Prof Chuck Holmes, The Common Sense Economist

IS GLOBAL WARMING REAL?

IS GLOBAL WARMING REAL?

Or is it a big myth? Is it science or is it politics? The answer to all these questions is yes, or maybe, or sometimes.
According to the World Almanac and Book of Facts, the average global temperature increased by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit, or about one degree centigrade, from 1900 to 2005. We had a period of global warming about 18,000 years ago that brought an end to the Great Ice Age. We had another about 500 years ago that ended the Little Ice Age. The effects of these were described in an earlier newsletter. So global warming is real, sometimes. Other times we might welcome a little global cooling. The problem is that we have had no global warming the last 17 years.
But global warming can also be global cooling. Scientists at the National Oceanography Centre in the U.K. have found that global warming has caused a 30% reduction in the Gulf Stream, the Atlantic flow that carries warm water north. This could cause another “Little Ice Age.” True global warming believers maintain that global warming caused the polar vortex that led to the extreme cold and snow that caused the misery in the northeastern U.S. in the winter of 2013-2014.
Forbes reports (http://onforb.es/1bUbs!K) that we experienced global warming in last century between 1900 and 1945, a cooling period, and then a second global warming period in 1975, lasting until 1998. It is true that Mr. Forbes is conservative and may be biased, but as Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the last intellectual in Washington said, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.” True believers are having problems explaining the flat temperature of the last 17 years.
The “hockey stick” graph, developed by Michael Mann, et al, became “proof” to true believers that global warming is a fact. The graph depicts global temperatures remaining constant or slightly decreasing between 1,000 AD and 2001. Temps then took a drastic upturn, giving the graph the shape of a reclining hockey stick. Mr. Manning seemingly ignored temp changes such as those in the Little Ice Age.
Global warming may or may not be a myth. That is the question asked in this essay. But there are certainly myths about extreme weather and global warming. David Kreutzer, a research fellow and writer for the Daily Signal, rebuts five common myths. Hurricanes have not become more frequent; tornadoes are not more common; not enough evidence exists to suggest that droughts and floods are becoming more frequent and more severe. He closes with “Finally a real scientific consensus—everyone agrees that the recent displaced polar vortex was not caused by global warming.”
Finally, global warming seems to be more politics than science. I said in Issue 13 of All You REALLY Need to Know About Economics, global warming is not only political, it is POLITICALLY CORRECT! If you dare mention that global warming is caused by factors other than CO2 production, the PC police will immediately brand you a criminal. All those who don’t agree, even though they may be scientists, are called “deniers.”
So, is global warming real? Yes, the globe has warmed. It has also cooled. True believers discount the cooling part. They ignore the Great Ice Age and the more recent Little Ice Age. Humans are blamed for all global warming when some say that animal flatulence is more to blame. Very few humans were around during the beneficial global warming after the Great Ice Age. Perhaps cave people of the day built great big fires and ate massive amounts of beans. There were also dinosaurs that must have cut farts that were indeed breath taking, filling the air with global warming methane gas.
Dr. Heidi Cullen, climate expert on the Weather Channel, once said that meteorologists who do not agree with her on global warming should have their credentials revoked. John Coleman, founder of the Weather Channel, called global warming “the greatest scam in history,” with “environmental whacko type” researchers receiving huge government “research” grants to keep the movement going.
Whom do you believe?
By the way, Global warming has morphed into Climate Control. Why? What is the difference?